Qatar Airways denies India foray

Doha, January 15, 2013

Qatar Airways is not interested in buying a stake in budget carrier SpiceJet Ltd or any other Indian airline, the carrier's chief executive said on Tuesday.

Shares in SpiceJet rose 4.1 percent on Tuesday after the Times of India reported it was close to selling a stake to a foreign carrier, which the newspaper said was most likely to be Qatar Airways.

"Qatar Airways categorically denies it is interested in investing in Spicejet or any other Indian airline," CEO Akbar Al-Baker said in a statement.

"This is pure speculation by individuals who deliberately want to spread such unfounded rumours to raise the stock value of their entities."

Al Baker said Qatar Airways would only look at investing in India once it believed that laws and regulations in the country had been "properly liberalised".

Earlier, reacting to the Times of India report, SpiceJet said it was premature to comment on the possibility of selling shares to any investor.

"(A) few investors have evinced interest in the company post government of India allowing FDI (foreign direct investment) in the civil aviation sector to foreign airlines," SpiceJet said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

"It will be very premature to comment on the possibilities of any fresh equity issuance to such interested parties or confirm/deny names of any specific entity," the company added.

Jet Airways, India's second-largest carrier, is in talks with Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways to sell a stake, it said earlier this month, in what could be the first deal in the sector following the rule change. – Reuters